You Computer - Do U Turn It Off Or Leave It On

I know theres many schools of thought on wether its good for you pc or not to turn it off after each use or better for it to be left on all the time...or worse. What do you guys think? What do you do? I'm of the opinion that its better power usage wise to have it turned off when i'm not home. If i'm home i'll turn it on and leave it on the entire time i'm home so i can use it without waiting for it to start up. I do think that leaving it on 24/7 isnt the best for it as the fans and moving parts in the hard drive would wear out somewhat faster...as well as the extra heat produced by the pc isn't that great of it either My laptop i allow to hibernate rather than turning it right off unless its going to be out of use for more than a 8 hours.

[question posted by saundyl]

responses and comments:

I never turn my pc off. It doesnt even get rebooted very often. it runs pretty smoothly without rebooting often.. i dunno why. but i like it that way! hehe. maybe cause we dont install and uninstall a bunch of crud ;) I think most of the time when it gets rebooted its because windows updated and it needs to be rebooted. [Sissygrl]

I turn mine off when I'm not here and when I go to bed. I turn it on in the morning, feed the cats, click the dial-up, get my coffee. When all this is done, the computer is about ready. Dial-up is the only thing available where I live. I hate it. [mcat19]

i always turn my pc off not just for the power usage but for the extreme heat my computer generates. and why oh why does ur pc has to be on all the for the couple of minutes it takes to start i think the 'lag' ur pc makes takes longer. and ofcours it's not good for your pc to stay on all time some parts ( i think) can burn. [wiifreepoints7]

I leave my computer running but I do shut off my monitor when I not using my computer. It helps to save on the elctric bill just a little. [jstaubin]

That's a good question and I'm no expert, but ... Personally I leave mine on almost 24/7. My last pc was on 24/7 for the last 3 years I was using it, I have a new one now, but the other one still works perfectly fine. I don't mean to say leaving it on is better as I do not know that as fact. It does however save you from booting it up all the time and I do find it to be a smoother ride in general. Nowadays fans are built well the last long and can easily be replaced should the need arise. as for hard drives and other components, they have power saving features that allow you to set when things turn off like hard drives and monitors even the ram and your fans can be adjusted in power save mode. the heat should not be that much of an issue if your computer is idle and not under load. If heating is an issue I would suggest a better cooling solution, I myself just bought an extra 120mm intake fan and replaced my stock HSF for a cooler master hyper XT something or other :P now if anything my pc which is a quad core and is on almost all the time and has been on for the past 96 hours feels more like a refrigerator. [Esoteric1]

when i go to bed i turn my computer off...i don't leave my computer 24/24 for 7/7 i leave it on only when my team have a project and they need my server for testing their scripts... [RedX922]

I usually turn it off especially when I am not using it because my parents will really complain! They are afraid that if we leave our electrical or electronic devices "on", it will be the cause of fire or shortage. lolz. [jesbellaine]

a computer thats off, uses just as much energy as a computer that is in sleep mode or hibernating, about 5 watts an hour. a computer thats on but idle, uses anywhere from 60 to 100 watts an hour. ill assume the national average is about 10 cents per kilowatthour, because prices range from 5 to 16 cents nationally. 5W/1000KW= .005KW .005KW* $.10 per KWh= $.0005 per hour leaving it on but idle (not in use) uses 60 to 100, so we will use 100 for the sake of accuracy. 100W/1000KW= .1KW .1KW* $.10 per KWh= $.01 per hour now lets assume you dont use your computer for 16 hours every day, meaning you do use it 8 hours a day. off/asleep/hibernating: $.0005* 16= $.008, .008* 30 (days per month)= $.24 per month. on but idle: .01* 16= $.16, $.16* 30= $4.80 per month turning it off when its not in use, saves you $4.56 a month. not very much. id prefer to pay that and have the convenience of not turning it on and waiting when i want to use it. also ive heard the initial voltage of turning it on is much higher, and could be potentially damaging to your hardware, plus if you turn it on and off a lot, its possible, though unlikely, that your savings would be null. [spanktastic2120]

I turn my computer off every night before I go to bed. I was told the fans could burn out if left on all the time. I would rathr have to restart it each morning then have a melted computer sitting on my desk. [Goodie123]

Hi saundyl, If my programs needs it YES I leave it on. Most long process applications like system wide virus check, defrag, video conversion has auto shutdown any way. Lately I'm in to Torrent so I hardly turned it off, I just make sure that my external peripherals monitor, speaker, printer/scanner are off. [ferdzNK]

Mine is kept on all the time. Now and then I do log off. But it stays on there too. I have always heard never to turn it off by the CPU. If you do hold the button for 15 seconds. [plzunzipme1976]

We have two computers in our house, mine and my Grandmother's. I would turn my computer off at night, but for some reason it runs slow when I boot it up. I told my grandmother this, and she allows me to leave it on as long as I turn the monitor off (the light shines in her bedroom and she can't sleep.) My grandmother always shuts off her computer. She doesn't have the same problem I have with booting up, so she does it to save electricity. She always leaves her monitor on though. Just why I really don't know. [drknlvly6781]

here at the office, i never turnoff my computer until i out at 5pm. then in the morning i turn it onn at 8 am. i never turn it off even break time. but in our house, we always turn the computer if we ddnt use it. [nice030481]

My PC stays on all the time, as I have a research programme running on it 24/7. However, there are times that it has to be switched off for a while, after updates, when the screen freezes or during disconnection, through no fault of my own. Brightest Blessings. [Darkwing]

I place it on standby mode if I'm planning to use it again after a few minutes. Otherwise I would turn it off. I hate wasting electricity. [wisedragon]

it better if we turn it off when we don't use it..if you leave it on..maybe it cause computer burn..saving our electricity use.. [jamali304]

Here at home, we turn off the computer after we use it. That's like after almost 24 hours. LOL. We don't really leave it on 24/7 cos yeah, like you said, the fans and other devices might wear out. But after I use it, I don't turn it off immediately cos my brother's next or vice versa. Haha! We turn it off when we're off to sleep. Cheers! [marababe]

yes, i cant understand thing you write [dangduong9999]

I prefer switching off my computers if I am not using. This way you can save power and save the computer from wear out. Further there is power fluctuation where I stay and not switching off the computer can effect it during power fluctuation. Also thinking about the environment I prefer switching off the computer. [sohelkm]

I'm not sure one way or the other what is best for the PC but I always turn mine off at night for the power saving. I wouldn't turn it off after every use though because it's so old that I think Noah used it to keep track of the animals. lol [rovermadman]

I turn it off when I leave because I know the value of electricity and i never wanted to waste any thing.... what ever it is.. [maathav]

I turn off my monitor but not my computer. I asked my son about this but he said it is not a problem. The one thing he did say was that if I left the computer on and the monitor that I should get screen savers because that saves the screen. He says he turns off his monitor but leaves his computer on. [sunshinelady]

well i would say dat i never turn it off. ha ha ha it's almost on 24 hours a day and seven days a week coz i am on web all the time. lots of work here so it keeps me indulged almost the whole day. well what do you guys have to say about it??/ lemme know.. happy posting guys n gals n .... [mayurnagekar]

I think after we use about 12 hours we should off the pc. In my office we all shut down the pc after office hours it is dangerous to leave the pc on for the long time it may be blow ...may be. [malikderu]

Computers normally turnoff themselves when not used... It is automatic as a power saving tool unless you choose not to use it. But a MS VISTA machine would rather hibernate than turn off but it will still turnoff the hard disk and the processor after some time. So even the VISTA chooses to turn off the major parts of your computer. Therefore I conclude that you'd better turnoff your computer if you rarely use it. Hibernation is good if you have work to do and go for a coffee break and then go back to your computer and see it the same way as you left it. You can then continue and finish your work... [Al_Bobid]

I am also be told that it is not good for computer to turn on and off often. As the computer will use more energy when it turn on and off, so based on saving energy, it is unwise to turn it off when there sre some people will use it in less than an hour. So if I use the computer in public places, I will not turn the computer off after using it. Let other poeple can use it quickly and save the energy. While comes to my own computer, I will turn it off if I will not use it in one hour. But i think I am not good to my computer, for I always use it more than 8 hours a day. It is treated a second citizen in my place. [nini168]

I dont have patience to boot up my computer every time.So I enabled hibernation and it will hibernate when not in use.It is also a power saving option. [vidhya_anu]

I always turn by computer off and unplug it when I am not at home but otherwise I leave it on until about 6 o'clock and then turn it off until the next day [austinbell]

I shutdown every night, I think this is best incase there are storms during night and also to give it a bit of a break =P. [9Mace9]

I turn off my computer because it is a appliance . All of the appliances have it's own limitations. So I turning off my computer to save it from destruction and lessen our electric bills. [leocatubig]

i leave it on at oofice some days. i just lock it, switch off the monitor and go. some days i switch it off. at home i always switch it off as it saves electricity. [subha12]

I put mine off. Save on power bill, but i heard somewhere that they (computers) where never ment to be put off lol. [babayangu]

I never leave my computer on when I am not at home. Even when I am at home, and I am done using my computer after a long day and I decide to take a rest and watch TV, I will turn off my computer. It will certainly save me some cost in utilities. I would think that if you leave your computer components running for very long periods, they will break down faster due to wear and tear. [lexus54]

Short periods - standby. Overnight - off. [whiteheather39]

Most of the time i leave my pc on unless i am going out for a good long time. If i am going out for more then an hour i turn it off. If u leave the pc on all the time , then there are more possibilities of virus invading ur pc. ~pinks~ [itsmepinky]

I leave mine on almost 24/7. It's not so good for the computer to be off and on all the time. [as2006]

I turn it off or make it go to sleep! If I am leaving the house for a long time, then I definitely will turn it off! It does make the electric bill a little bit lower that way. I know of a computer that was burnt out after only three years of being left on continuously! [olivemai]

i also use hibernate in my lapop and i usually turn it off after i use it. but during that time when i have my desktop, i usually leave it on even if i'm going to sleep [rhane7315]

I leave it on 24/7!! I love downloading stuff (legally ;) ) So I leave it on and find everything complete in the morning... The only time I turn it off is if I'm going away for a week or something [rombi001]

I used to leave the computer on, it took so long to start up so I just did not shut it off other than to reboot on occassion or if there are storms in the area. but with my new computer it moves quick enough and I am in the habit to turn it off each night, or when I am gone from the house. you never know when a storm might pop up unexpectedly. [Modestah]

I leave my computer on all day and alnight I make sure I have the sleep effect on for it though so it looks like its off even if its still on. [Crysi23]

I turned off both my laptop and my computer. Laptop, so that I don't waste the battery life and computer I do so out of habit and to save electricity. [Elixiress]

I found that leaving the computer on without using it causes it to freeze up when I go back on and then I have to reboot, so it's better to turn it off when not using it. This was especially the case with my old computer, not so much my new one. But I don't see the reason in keeping the computer or any electronic device on when not in use. It boggles my mind when I go by schools, companies and even houses late at night and see the glow of the computer monitors. Those computers are never turned off and that is just plain stupid. It is a waste of electricity... and money. Why spend money on your electric bill unnecessarily? And whose to say that the computer won't start a fire? We have my old computer in my daughter's room. It is not hooked up to the internet so they just use it for games and homework. My younger daughter was playing on it the other night and shut it down. When my older daughter came home she noticed the keyboard light on, which usually means it wasn't shut down properly. She rebooted so she could shut it down and smoke started coming out of the computer. She unplugged everything. The computer is now toast. Who knows what would have happened if there was no one in the room at the time? The whole house might have burned down. Better to turn off any appliances you are not using, even lights and televisions. It's just common sense. [patgalca]

I turn my off when I go to bed, or when I am going to away for a day trip or something like that. But I will leave it on If I am just to go do some errands or something and come back home. So far it is working rather good. [motorheadbanger]

I turn it off at the end of the day or when im going out for too long. But normaly i put on on the morning and if im in the place but not in front of the computer, I left him walk on. But if im on the batteries he shut down after couple of minutes,to keep the safe the energy. [julie85]

I always turn mine off at night as rebooting fixes a lot of errors and makes the PC run faster (well it does for mine anyway). Windows is such a terrible memory manager that turning it off and on again clears the RAM and give the computer more resources to work with. [darkblueverbatim]

i live in a country where the power authorities are increasingthe tarriffs almost every 3 months so i really dont fancy leaving any electrical appliance on unless they are in use,i also have a fast broadband internet connection so i dont have to be scared of how long its gonna take to get my internet up,i personally leave my computer off as long as its not in use, [BYOLA2871]

hi saundyl, i turn my pc off regularly, i mean every time after using it i turned it off, i think its not good for my pc to leave it opened, even if i leave it opened it will turn off by some factors, factors like falling of electricity, in our country electric falls many times in a day! [gmwgreat]

I leave mine on only once a week for the deep virus scan that takes forever! I let it do it overnight when I am sleeping. I do leave it on all day everyday and I just let it go to sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity. I have heard it is better for the computer to not boot it up and shut it down too much and to let it sleep or hibernate instead. But with the newer computers these days, it may not make a difference? I guess a computer tech will just have to tell us! [mi2ok02]

At the moment where I live there is an "energy crisis" where 2-3 times a week we are becoming "previously lit areas". What I'm trying to say is that there is not much electricity to go around and so I shut down my pc when I am not using it, especially since it is not uncommon for the power to go out altogether and when that happens I would rather have shut down first. But even though I say that, if I'm just going to leave it for a short while I often leave it on and just turn off the monitor. [Pirate_Arg]

i know theres many schools of thought on wether its good for you computer or not to turn it off after each use or better for it to be left on all the time or worse. what do you guys think? what do you do ?i'm of the opinion that its better power usage wise to have it turned off when i 'm not home.if i'm home i'll turn it on and leave it on the entire time i'm home so i can use it without waiting for it to start up. i do think that leaving it on 12/2 isnt the best for it as the fans and moving parts in the hard drive would wear out somewhat faster as well as the extra heat produced by the computer unless its going to be out of use for more than 2 hours. re: because i am very buzy .but i have to close my computer at 11 o'clock in evening. [dongdongdong]

I turn it off sometimes if I don't have any task in process like torrent downloads and other internet activity. But it is turn on most of the time cuz I love to download movies, applications and mp3's. I'm afraid that my house get on fire someday, thats why I take all the precautions needed to keep my computer and house safe. But still even though precautions is applied I don't trust the electricity and I don't advice anyone to turn on the computer 24/7. [oliverdt]

i leave my computer on and if it starts to run slow then i just restart it and get back to what i was doing.. [busta1]

I always keep it on !because I am a programmer,and I often sit by the computer.Computer is my friend ,I would not turn it off. [moonastrid]

OFF! I definitely shut it down when I am not using it. Why waste electricity? And please do your part to reduce global warming! rasp [lordwarwizard]

I am a saver more than a spender. I would make sure that no waste on the electricity use in my house. When it's the bedtime or we still don't need the light, we will turn off all the light for the room. We also turn off some electronic devices when we no longer use it. Computer is one of them. I won't leave the house without making sure that all electronic appliances have been turned off, including my computer. One reason is to save more electricity (and money), and another reason is to avoid anything being burned because of leaving them on and then having short circuit. doh [bongkarpasang]

It depends, if i know that i will be using the computer the next morning I leave my laptop on during the night. If I'm gonig to be out for the day then I leave it off. [mishastar]

It is always healthy to turn off and reboot your computer everyonce in a while. So your computer can always have a fresh and clean start and clear up your temporary and scratch files. ;) [navydragon]

I make it a point to conserve energy and i try to turn the pc off before i go to sleep. Sometimes i turn the monitor off and leave the pc running for virus scan or when I'm doing something like downloading. I'm using desktop i have yet to have a laptop [musicdoG]

i also leave it on because..i think that i shut down and restarts the computer i think that will consumes more battery :)). [registername]

I usually put my laptop into Hibernate mode, this saves what you are doing to the hard drive, and then powers the computer off. It uses no electricity, and the computer turns on quicker than if you turned it off normally. [Samsta]

Well normally i will turn it off when i am not using my computer , sometimes i will leave it on because of transfer photos to my friends yea . [Sir_bobby88]

You Computer - Do U Turn It Off Or Leave It On

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